Monday, October 29

Today we went out southwest of Victoria harbour to find a humpback whale feeding along with a large group of sea lions and birds in the area. The whale was rolling around, and we saw a couple of tail slaps on the water. It was so neat to see the sea lions swimming around the whale. We also went to Race Rocks and viewed the sea lions and seals and seabirds on the rocks, as well as in the water around that area. The sea lions were quite vocal and there was a large number of them on the rocks. We enjoyed a smooth ride back from Race Rocks into the harbour, the weather was windy but the sun was out!


Sunday, October 28

Biologist Corey joined our Sunday morning tour. Here are a few of his beautiful photos.

Thursday, October 25

As we headed out of Victoria in a Southerly direction the sea was flat calm so we had a good chance of spotting whales that might be in the area. We were going out to the region where we had recently been spotting humpbacks. A passenger in the boat spotted some fins and a check with Brad, the skipper, confirmed that we had Orcas. When we stopped the boat we realised just how many, they were all around us! We were in the middle of a wide-spread group, which appeared to contain individuals from J and L pod. We saw juveniles in the group, some tail slapping and a spy hop. There was also a group of Stellar sea lions in the midst of it all, getting involved with one of the groups of Orcas, and it looked like there was a bit of playful interaction between them from all the splashing at the surface (luckily it was residents we were watching and not Sea lion eating residents - it might have been a different story!). We received a report of humpbacks and so headed out further in to the Strait, where we found 3 humpbacks, surfacing together. We had good views of almost the whole length of the whales, from the bumps on their heads to the undersides of the flukes. WE had a chance for a quick visit to Race Rocks, with only a few seals and sea lions hauled out, but with the sun out shining, flat seas and 2 species of whales in one 3 hour trip, everyone commented on what a great day they had.

Tuesday, October 23

The afternoon trip was a perfect for whale watching, it was a clear day and the sea was flat calm. South of Victoria we stopped to watch a pair of humpbacks at the surface, and spotted a third individual off to the front of the boat. After watching the whales on either side of us feeding for a while, they joined together and all three would surface a number of times before each would throw up its tail and take a longer dive. We also saw a fourth humpback in the area feeding, so there were a number of animals for us to watch. The group of 3 started to show a bit more activity on the surface, with a bit of thrashing from the tail and the fore flippers and a few little playful tail slaps. There were also some stellar sea lions in the area, swimming on the surface in small groups and sticking their snouts out of the water to breathe. We moved on out into the Strait to see if we could spot any other whales such as the Minkes or Orca, but were unsuccessful on this day. A stop off at Race Rocks found plenty more Stellar Sea lions hauled out along with the Californian Sea lions, lots of cormorants, but not so many harbour seals this time.

Here are some of Corey's beautiful photos from Saturday's tours.

Saturday, October 20

The morning trip saw us head South from Victoria to an area where we have observed humpbacks feeding over the last couple of weeks. The first stop and scan of the area found no whales, but we did see groups of Stellar Sea Lions swimming on the surface. We turned to the East and stopped off at Race Rocks to look at the various marine life occupying the shoreline then carried on towards the area we had checked at the beginning of the trip. This time we came across 4 humpbacks, 3 together and one foraging alone. We could hear their breathing, and saw them surface a number of times. We also saw the underside of the tail flukes, providing us with good opportunities to observe how the individual whales are identified. We even managed to have a bit of fun with Corey, one of our naturalists, in using him as a comparison (or not!) to the humpbacks!

The afternoon trip focused on Haro Strait to the East of Victoria. After an hour of travelling we came across Superpod, all 3 of the resident Orca pods J, K and L. We were just off Sidney Island and the whales were all around us with Spy hops, tails slaps, porpoising and breaching behaviours. We saw the white patches of 2 whales under the water and followed them going under us from one side of the boat to another. The Orcas were active and playful, with some activity which looked like they were also hunting for salmon. One individual surfaced right beside the boat without any warning, giving one woman on the boat a bit of a fright!

Captain John captured some beautiful photos of a very active Humpback whale last week.

Wednesday, October 17

This morning we found a small group of humpbacks near Constance Bank. With calm waters and sun shining, we were the only boat with the whales for most of the morning. There was a large number of sea lions and birds in the area feeding as well as the whales. The humpbacks were interacting with sea lions along with feeding. We were able to see the large quantities of both plankton and small fish in the water, that the larger animals were feeding on. One humpback was playing with some bull kelp at the surface, and kept poking it’s head out of the water and moving the kelp around. The whales were making sounds, and rolling around showing their heads and fins. We moved towards Race rocks to see the sea lions (Stellar and California) and harbour seals on the rocks as well as some that were in the water nearby. On our way back to Victoria, we stopped to see the humpbacks again.

For the afternoon tours we went to find the humpbacks we had seen in the morning, a group of at least 5 near Constance Bank. They were feeding, and still interacting with sea lions, rolling and making sounds. We watched one whale feeding as it came to the surface with its mouth open. There were many birds and sea lions still in the area feeding also. We heard of some Transient Orcas nearby, so we headed to see them after watching the humpbacks. The orcas were taking deep dives and heading west towards Race Rocks. We continued to the Rocks, where we saw the Stellar and California sea lions, Cormorants, and Habour seals. Some sea lions were playful in the water surrounding the rocks, and many on the rocks were vocal. We had a calm afternoon on the water with lots of sunshine!

Recent photos:


Monday, October 15

This afternoon we watched a sub-group of J pod, part of our resident Orcas, that were resting and traveling near Trial Island, heading northeast. The Orcas became more active and continued east as we moved on to look for the humpbacks near Race Rocks. There were about 4 humpback whales in the area, feeding and interacting with sea lions. The whales were making sounds, rolling around, showing their heads and fins, and were grouped up at times. We had an amazing time with engines shut down and watching the animals move around us!

Sunday, October 14

This morning we headed south from Victoria. The search for humpbacks was on! After only 20 minutes of searching a humpback whale was spotted. As we got closer we discovered there were two humpbacks surfacing in unison. There were also many Steller sea lions feeding around the boat. We stayed a while to watch the two humpbacks feeding. We left for Race Rocks to see if there were any sea lions left on the rocks or whether they were all on foraging trips as they seemed to be sea lions feeding all around. After a few minutes we came across another two humpback whales and in the distance we could see another humpback surfacing. We soon counted seven humpback whales feeding within a few miles of one another. We were glad to see once we reached Race Rocks that there were still a few Steller sea lions and Californian sea lions to greet us with a chorus of barking and growling.

In the afternoon headed south of Victoria harbour, straight towards the area where we had seen the humpbacks during the morning trip and we weren't disappointed. There were still seven humpback whales within a few miles of one another and the Steller sea lions were still feeding all around the boat. After an hour of viewing the different individual humpbacks in the area we headed for Race Rocks to view the sea lions.

Saturday, October 13

This morning, we headed towards San Juan Island in flat calm waters in search of our resident orcas. It was foggy, but this just added to the west coast experience! Arriving on scene near Hannah Heights, we found two sprouter males including J30 (Riptide). Not only did we get an amazing visual experience, but the calm winds allowed us to hear the whales through the fog before we could even see them. Later in the trip, we were fortunate to spend some time with Ruffles (J1), the oldest whale in the southern resident community. It was a fantastic way to end the trip.

In the afternoon, we travelled to the southern end of San Juan Island, where we encountered the J16 matriline approaching Hein Bank. It was a fantastic experience, as we found the family group in a playful mood. It was a thrill to watch the wonderful antics of the young calf J42, and the many tail slaps of another young orca. All this whale action was framed by the wonderful backdrop of Mount Baker. October whale watching is spectacular, as we also start to see many of the sea ducks that spend their winters here. Today, we saw an incredible amount of white-winged scoters enjoying the shallow nutrient waters of Hein Bank. It was a great afternoon on the Salish Sea.

Captain John got some beautiful Humpback photos with the afternoon tour on Wednesday!

Wednesday, October 10

Within 20 minutes of the trip beginning we encountered humpbacks south of Victoria. First we spotted on humpback surfacing and throwing up its tail flukes before a longer dive, and as we watched for it to resurface we spotted a pair of humpbacks rising together, breathing, and diving again towards the front of the boat. We stayed to watch the humpbacks for a while, there were 5 individual whales around the boat, before heading out into the middle of the Strait for a quick search of the area. We turned back towards the shore, where we spotted some harbour seals hauled out, and a bald eagle circling above the area where the nest was located. There was also a large group of turkey vultures riding on the thermals, and we headed out to Race Rocks to see the seals and sea lions hauled out there.

In the afternoon we again headed towards the humpbacks, and saw 2 pairs feeding in the area close to where we had viewed them in the morning. Again plenty of opportunities to photograph the tail flukes, as one after the other they went on deeper dives. Another search out into the Strait, just to check to see whether we had any transients turn up in the area, before again travelling along the shore line and visiting Race Rocks towards the end of the trip.

I finally had a chance to download my pictures from our trip. We had such an amazing experience with you guys, I can't thank you enough for a dream come true!
John and Sheenah were SO great at answering all our questions, and there were A LOT of them. The whales were what we went for but we could have seen them with any tour operator. Your guides are what make the trip truly special and we really appreciated them.
If we ever make it back to Victoria, your company will be #1 on our speed dial!
Thank you so much for great memories.
April and Sandy

Here are some great photos taken by Will Berger onboard our tours Friday, Oct 5th.

WHAT A CUTIE!

Monday, October 8

We travelled East towards San Juan Island and came across resident Orcas just off the South of the Island. We were passed by a few individuals from L-pod who were fairly spread out, and they were followed by a tightly packed J-pod who appeared to be in a resting phase, their form of "sleeping". Ruffles was obvious in the centre of the pack with his wavy fin. Individuals from K-pod were also identified as being in the area and we realised we had a super-pod, where all of the whales from the 3 resident pods J, K and L are together. We started to see some spy-hopping from the whales at the front of J-pod, and then others in the pod began to tail slap, all signs that the group were beginning to come out of their resting phase. The whales that had passed us first also began to tail slap in reply, and the tightly packed resting group began to split a little with a few changing direction. Then all the whales turned and began to swim back towards San Juan, still with plenty of action above the surface, and before we had to leave the group we observed a number of breaches, with the whale throwing itself right out of the water. We turned in to Chain Islands on the way back to Victoria to see the Cormorants and Harbour Seals, and before we headed back to harbour we heard there were humpbacks not far away. We turned South of Victoria and came across 3 pairs of Humpbacks around the boat. We watched the nearest couple for a few surfaces, then saw the tail flukes before their longer dive. We stayed just for one more round of surfacing and the tail flukes rising before it really was the end of our afternoon of whale watching.

Sunday, October 7th

This morning was a spectacular trip aboard the Orca Spirit. We headed out into the Strait of Juan De Fuca where after a short search we found 3 humpback whales travelling and feeding together! It was an amazing encounter; at one point the three humpback whales circled our boat. We were awed by the wonderful show as we saw all three whales fluking near our boat. After watching the whales we headed west towards Race Rocks where we saw several Steller sea lions and harbour seals. However, our time at Race Rocks was shortened when we heard of a report of transient orcas a short distance away. We travelled towards Church Rock where we saw at least 3 marine mammal-eating killer whales making their way towards Race Rocks. We travelled with them, a group of two females and a juvenile orca, and sat outside the ecological reserve as we watched them approach a seal haulout. The sea lions were nervous as well! As time was running out, we left the whales to their hunting and headed for the harbour.

Saturday, October 6

It was a fantastic morning of whale watching as we headed into the Strait of Juan De Fuca in search of orcas, humpback whales and other cetaceans of the Salish Sea. Not too far out of the harbour, we encountered a couple large groups of Steller sea lions out near Constance Bank. While watching these fascinating pinnipeds, Captain Brad noticed the blows of some humpback whales a couple of miles away. When we arrived on scene, we noticed three humpback whales feeding and surfacing in unison. It was an incredible sight and I (naturalist Corey) had never seen this many humpbacks travelling together. As we were watching the humpbacks, we had a quick visit from a minke whale as well. We left the whales after a spectacular viewing experience to see what else we could find and were thrilled to encounter a playful group of Dall's porpoises that were having fun riding our bow wake. To conclude our tour, we had a lovely pass through Race Rocks.

Friday, October 5th

This morning we travelled south west to begin our search for whales. It was a lovely morning and everyone was studying horizon for the sign of a whale breathing at the surface. We interrupted our search to have a look at the sea lions at Race Rocks. Not long after leaving the sea lions we came across 2 humpback whales. Just as we stopped to watch the humpbacks, the call came in that resident Orcas, specifically L pod had been spotted off San Juan Island. After a discussion with everyone on board we agreed to leave the humpback and travel the 45 minutes to reach the orcas. It was worth it - as we caught up with members of L pod feeding to the south of San Juan island.

In the afternoon we headed east to try to catch up with the resident orcas that had been spotted in the morning, as they were travelling north around the west coast of San Juan Island. On the way to find the Orcas, we were joined by a group of Dall's Porpoise - a few of whom played in the wake of the boat and swam next to the boat. We caught up with the orcas at Kellet Bluff, just at the north-west corner of San Juan Island. They still appeared to be feeding and were spread out over a large area. Several small groups started heading in the direction of the boat and we were soon treated to great views of Gaia (L78), an adult male from L pod and Moonlight (L83) with her calf L110. After we had seen the majority of the whales pass the boat and continue north, we travelled back to the the Juan de Fuca Strait to search for humpbacks. Soon, an eagle eyed passenger, spotted a blow in the distance - it was a humpback surfacing. We watched it surface several times and then spotted another two humpback whales in the distance. We watched them throw they're tail flukes in the air as they went for a deeper dive.

Thursday, October 4th

The first stop on the trip was South of Victoria for a scan of the area where we had watched 2 humpbacks the previous day. After a 10 minute look we carried on our journey out to the West and again slowed down to scan the Strait for possible humpbacks and transient or resident Orcas. We turned in closer to shore and headed back East towards Race Rocks, where we saw a few seals and sea lions. On leaving the area we discovered we had 2 humpbacks ahead of us, and on arrival saw both tail flukes rise into the air one after the other, and waited for them to resurface after their long dive. We then watched them surface a number of times and the behaviour suggested they were feeding together. One of the individuals lifted its tail high in the air twice to bring it down on the surface in a big tail slap, just before we had to leave to return to Victoria.

In the afternoon we headed out to the area we had watched humpbacks on the morning trip. Both were still in the area surfacing and diving together, and again we saw some tail slapping from one of the whales. We also watched a large group of Stellar Sea Lions swimming in the water. They stopped behind the boat to watch us for a bit, all taking it in turns to stick their noses up in the air to breathe before rolling over on their backs and going down on a dive. We travelled out in the Strait to see if we could find any other species in the area, before heading towards Race Rocks to check out the seals and sea lions hauled out.

Wednesday, October 3rd

As we headed South from Victoria we began to search for humpbacks in the Juan de Fuca Strait. We then turned towards the West and travelled past Race rocks towards Sooke. We made a couple of stops on the way, even to check a log that looked remarkably like a small Orca!! We turned back towards the shoreline and saw 2 bald Eagles sitting on some rocks. We then stopped off at Race rocks to see the harbour seals, Stellar and Californian sea lions, before doing one last tour of the Strait towards the end of the trip.

Within 6 miles of Victoria we encountered a couple of humpbacks surfacing together and then going on their deeper dives, throwing their flukes up one after the other. One of the whales surprised us after its longer dive by surfacing right behind the boat, close enough to see the all the bumps on the front of its head, and the 2 nostrils of the blow hole. We then travelled closer in to shore where we found the bald eagle we had spotted in the morning, and then travelled out into the strait, where we were joined by Dall's Porpoise playing in the turbulent water caused by the boat. After this we headed to Race Rocks, there were a lot less sea lions hauled out on the rocks than the morning trip, but it was still a nice end to the day.

Here are a few of our favourite photos taken on board our tours throughout September.

Monday, October 1st

The morning trip begin by travelling South East into the Juan de Fuca Straight. Within half an hour we were the first boat on site with a group of transient Orcas. The group was quite a large size size for transients, with close to 10 individuals. There was also a couple of juveniles in there. We stayed with the Orcas for a while and then moved to the West, where we caught a very brief glimpse of a humpback, but also saw some Stellar Sea Lions bringing salmon up out of the water and throwing them around before consuming them. We carried on West towards Race Rocks to look at the seals and sea lions hauled out on the rocks before the end of our trip. The afternoon saw us going East towards Haro Strait where the transient group from this morning were travelling North. They were quite unpredictable at times, with long dives, and a bit of what looked like hunting activity just below the surface. We then went over to Chatham and Discovery islands where we watched harbour seals, cormorants and a great blue heron. We then carried out a quick search for humpbacks before the days end.